Army demotes IMA cadet to the rank of sepoy

New Delhi: The Indian Military Academy has sacked a cadet and fined him Rs 11 lakh for fraudulently withdrawing money from a fellow trainee officer`s bank account, a month before the passing out parade.

Besides sacking, Gentleman Cadet Alok Kumar Tiwari, who had joined the army as jawan and cleared several exams to be eligible to become an officer, was demoted to the rank of a sepoy after the incident, his counsel Major K Ramesh told a news agency here.

Alleging that the IMA Commandant ordered his withdrawal from the training institution and imposed a penalty of Rs 11,59,500 without application of mind, Tiwari has moved the Armed Forces Tribunal seeking reinstatement as a GC and waiving-off the fine imposed on him.

The monetary penalty imposed on Tiwari is the cost incurred in his training at the Army Cadet College and the IMA. It would continue to be deducted from his pay and allowances as a jawan for the next eight to ten years, he said.

"This person was a jawan earlier and trained to be an officer. The army has again sent him back to lines and imposed a heavy fine on him. But would they have been able to do so against a cadet coming fresh from college," Ramesh asked.

After completing his two years training at the Army
Cadet College, Tiwari had joined the IMA in January 2009 and
was supposed to pass out a year later as a permanent
commissioned officer.

A few days before his passing out parade, Tiwari was
involved in a theft of Rs 80,000 from the ATM of his fellow
gentleman cadet.

Tiwari has contended that he was performing well in
his training and at the most, should have been relegated by
another six months in his training course for the offence and
not thrown out of the academy.